LeBron James

[czvo]

I don't really want to get into directly comparing them because it's too damn hard to do that across eras. HOWEVER, it is a fact that defenses are far more complex and tougher to score against than the 80's and 90's.

And... look at the shitshow of wings Jordan went up against in the finals.

 

[godfather]

And his defense. It was the greatest offense+defense combo that we have numbers for and likely of all-time. Jordan had Pippen and Grant and then Harper and Rodman to help him. Who helps LeBron?


LeBron defensively in the playoffs was ridiculous:

Overall: 31.9 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 45.9%, -14.0%
Threes: 24.1 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 36.7%, -12. 6%
Twos: 36.6 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 50.5%, -13.9%
<6ft: 37.9 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 61.3%, -23.5%

LeBron defensively in the finals was utterly ridiculous:

Overall: 31.6 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 47.9%, -16.3%
Threes: 29.0 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 39.6%, -10.6%
Twos: 33.3 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 53.6%, -20.3%
<6ft: 38.5 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 63.6%, -25.1%

Against that offense, holy shit...

 

[priceFTW]

that was always an idiotic scouting of Lebron by Jordan. Anyone that watches Lebron enough would see he prefers going left on jumpers and most drives outside of dunks. Also, is naturally left handed in normal, everyday, life.

Is LeBron ambidextrous?

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/78312478-157.html

Today's game was a perfect example of what he pretty much does every game.


:32; drives left, tries to finish left and is fouled
:37; drives left the entire way, probably should've finished with the left
:44; drives left with the crossover, finishes righty
1:00; Eurostep and finishes with the left
1:20; drives left with the crossover
1:36; pick and roll catch from DWill, finishes with left
1:50; catches pick and roll lob and tries to finish with left hand (fouled)
2:00--2:15; cuts left twice
3:10; post craftiness finish with left hand
4:10; crossover going left in space he's been going to
4:26; goes left again and blows by everyone easily into paint

 

[Zog]

LeBron James teams are now 52-0 in the playoffs when leading by 10+ points after the 3rd quarter.

 

[JMoneyYourHoney]

Good old ESPN at it again with the eye-rolling Is This the Beginning of LeBron James' End? headliner.

Just a toxic landfill of an organization.

 

[shoes22]

Good old ESPN at it again with the eye-rolling Is the Beginning of LeBron James' End? headliner.

Just a toxic landfill of an organization.

The sooner they file for bankruptcy the better. They’ve been trash for so long.

 

[CLEistheCITY]

I don't really want to get into directly comparing them because it's too damn hard to do that across eras. HOWEVER, it is a fact that defenses are far more complex and tougher to score against than the 80's and 90's.

And... look at the shitshow of wings Jordan went up against in the finals.

Thank you. I have idiot friends who will go blue in the face telling me that defenses in the 80s and 90s were so much better than defenses now.

 

[Xearoii]

Anyone else blown away by this LBJ stat?

52-0 in playoff games where he enters the 4th quarter with a lead of 10+

How has he NEVER blown a 10+ lead entering the 4th in 52 playoff games? Unreal

Edit: oops @Northstar beat me to it

 

[wuck]

Yeah, perfect timing on that ESPN article, right after a sweep...


View: https://twitter.com/JasonLloydNBA/status/856258204921212928

 

[Kbiz]

Good old ESPN at it again with the eye-rolling Is This the Beginning of LeBron James' End? headliner.

Just a toxic landfill of an organization.

Ha! The article is actually the cover story for May's magazine and this is the basis for the entire "in-depth" analysis:

"Now more than ever the Cavs need James to walk on water because by every rational analysis, the team is toast -- loser of 15 of its last 26 regular-season games and having entered its first-round series with only a 3.7 percent chance of taking the title, according to the Basketball Power Index Playoff Odds. So the question of the playoffs becomes: Is James too fried to be his best when it matters most?"

What a joke.

 

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Kobe Bryant was clearly, and easily, the best basketball player on those teams. That's not even a serious debate.

Gasol was not "right there" with Kobe, at all. He was barely relevant in Memphis before he got to LA. An all-star? Yeah. He was good, but he wasn't a premier talent in the league by any means.

Gasol was great, but news flash, name me an all-time great that has won multiples titles without other great players?

It's not like anyone is going to list Gasol as the top-20 basketball player of all-time. Nor will he make the list of greatest players of his own generation.

And as for the Jordan comparisons. I don't think anyone seriously suggested he was Jordan, but the style of play was very similar.

Kobe's game mirrored Jordan's a lot. So by that alone the comparisons were going to be made.

Kobe is an all-time great. I don't really like him. And he's no threat to LeBron.

Like I said, he's clearly IMO the second greatest player of this generation. He's truly an all-time great, and should be recognized as that and respected as one. Kobe's career is legendary and a lot of all-time greats would easily trade their career for his.

But, he's clearly a distant second to LeBron James. That's how good LeBron is.

Production wise, he was. Those numbers do not lie.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

This rhetoric will continue from now until he retires. Get used to it.

 

[Pioneer10]

I don't really want to get into directly comparing them because it's too damn hard to do that across eras. HOWEVER, it is a fact that defenses are far more complex and tougher to score against than the 80's and 90's.

And... look at the shitshow of wings Jordan went up against in the finals.

I personally think Jordan (the pre-retirement one) was the best player I've seen even if I don't like him as a player (Magic was my guy till Lebron) but there is something to this. The vaunted match up with the Knicks features Starks who because of the New York media was turned into a star (a guy whose best PER was 16.4: i.e. just slightly better then league average).

Hawkins was pretty good but not a star like Butler, George, etc. Played like Klay thompson but wasn't as good as shooter or defender

Dumars was a good defender but he gets really overrated because he was on a winner (on offense his best PER year was 18, not bad but not MVP level). No one in hell is he on the level of again guys like Butler, George, Durant, Leonard, etc.

Cavs of course brilliantly traded Harper and never found a quality SF

In fairness, he did dominate against Drexler who is clearly the one truly HOF caliber type of player but I would put a prime Drexler behind George and Butler because I didn't think he was a great defender. But even if your rate Drexler higher: just the depth of wing talent in the NBA or player you would put at Drexler level (some slightly lower some above) is crazy right now - Butler, George, Leonard, Durant, Lebron, Giannis, Harden are legitimate MVP caliber players. This doesn't include guys like Hayward, Thomspon, CJ McCollum who are significantly better then the non-Drexler guy he ran into

 

[cavsfever]

If you want an antidote to the ESPN piece, the Ringer just awarded Lebron their "MVP of the First Round". From Kevin O'Connor --

https://theringer.com/2017-nba-play...n-james-draymond-green-john-wall-418e5d65762d

The Cavs trailed Indy by 26 points in the first half, and then LeBron happened. I was watching the game with my dad, and throughout the second half we couldn’t stop laughing as a natural reaction to LeBron’s virtuosity. We’ve all seen LeBron pull a Greg Jennings and put his team on his back — this time he did it with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love on the bench in the fourth quarter. I don’t want to spend too much time on LeBron’s greatness. I wrote about that last week, but just know, this is how I feel:


LeBron’s performance thus far hasn’t changed how I would’ve voted for MVP. But it has supported why I had him second on my ballot, behind Harden. Many voters will have him fourth. LeBron is the best offensive player in the league. He makes his teammates better simply by being on the floor, and when the ball is in his hands, no one is a more devastating scorer, and his passing ability is unmatched at his size. When he wants to, he can be one of the league’s premier defenders. It’s only a matter of time before LeBron turns it on and the rest of the team follows.​

 

[Jscc]

You'd think "every rational analysis" would include having learned from last post-season that LeBron's production/ability can't be capped or predicted.